Unrobing the Emperors and other matters of concern. An author's blog - begun in January 2016 - revealing political deception in the UK - paving The Road to Corbyn (2016, Matador), my updating of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. Featuring the story of the writing and research for The Remarkable Life of Jago Stone (2020, Unicorn) with readers' reactions. Also updates on my work in progress: Dying To Know.

Monday, 27 February 2017

JAGO STONE - THE AMERICAN CONNECTION - PART 4

At some point next year, in 2018, I will be making contact with mainstream publishers to see who may be interested in putting their money into my biography of Jago Stone. Self-publishing - as I did with 'The Road to Corbyn' - remains on the table as an option. Either way, the more people who express an interest at this stage the better the sales will be come publication. That's why both the Jago Stone website and the Jago Stone Facebook page contain a box to fill in to express an interest in purchasing on publication - and being kept updated on the progress towards that point. Do please look and find the box and if you're interested fill in the box.Here's the link for the UK readers.Here's the link in The Page for America.

As you will know from my last Jago blog, there has been much new detail emerging ever since the New Year began. Here is the input from Marie-Elena Baker - Laina Baker - who left a comment on the first of my earlier American Connection blogs:

'This is so much fun to read! A real trip down memory lane. We (my husband and I) were stationed at RAF Croughton, near USAF Upper Heyford) from the late 1960s through to 1981. I have 2 lovely watercolours, signed to my husband and I from Jago Stone (1976) - Anne Hathaway's House and Trinity Church - two Stratford-upon-Avon views ... I would be happy to send them to you. Jago even wrote notes on how it should be framed on one of

the pictures ... We met him though a friend who was stationed at Upper Heyford hospital ... He even sold us one of his newly published books'.That would have been 'The Burglar's Bedside Companion'- Jago's autobiography, published in 1975. Laina communicated with mefurther and gave me permission to use names and show thepictures. She continued:

'We lived in Brackley before moving onto RAF Croughton. It wasn't very far to Sulgrave Manor where we went many times ...'

Sulgrave Manor is the ancestral home of George Washington, the first president of the USA. Jago Stone painted a view of Sulgrave Manor that he presented in 1976 to the United States as a bicentennial gift and this was acknowledged with gratitude by the White House office. An identical image of Sulgrave Manor, painted by Jago, hangs in the collection of Lt Colonel John 'Adam' Adamski, retired, in Philadelphia - see an earlier blog using this link.

'... We just hung out with Jago at friend's houses, and he did come over a couple of times to bring our "orders" and his book. He was interesting, that is for sure! He would have been a great politician ... ha ha ... He knew how to say the right things at all the right times, if I remember. I do know that he was a bit of a "snob" in that the liked/wanted much bigger orders than we could afford ... We just have these two. I do love them as Stratford was our TO GO place! We were "non-combatants" - Senior Enlisted - and most of his clients were much wealthier Officers ... ha ha! He was ultra charismatic and so very talented. Over the years we saw many of his paintings in friend's houses. I will go email you the photos that my son took. Cheers!'

Thank you so much, Laina - your story adds fine detail to the picture of Jago and his two paintings speak for themselves. In my third American Connection blog, I told the story of Jessica Raber, an American artist who had been depicted as a 7-year-old in the window of her parent's home by Jago when he was painting that house. Jessica and I are now connected on Facebook and I'll conclude this blog with a 2017 picture that Jessica posted. I saw it and commented 'Evocative - delicate but strong ...' Jessica replied: 'Thanks! I'm definitely taking lots of inspiration from Jago ...'How cool is that! Jago would have loved this. Imagine. Jago died in 1988. Almost a generation later, his influence is still being felt - in the art world of the USA, and expressed in the work of someone he knew aged 7. Here's Jessica's picture: